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RTFKT CloneX NFT with Takashi Murakami: What On Earth Is It?

By NFTevening

  • 6 min read
  • April 10, 2024

To put it simply, there can’t be a conversation about the most significant NFT projects today that doesn’t mention the CloneX collection from RTFKT Studios. The fully 3D avatars have not only met, but exceeded the immense hype that preceded their debut. And ever since launch, they’ve charted a path to NFT glory.

RTFKT CloneX NFT next to co-creator Takashi Murakami

CloneX from RTFKT and Takashi Murakami is one of the hottest NFT projects to date.

What is the RTFKT CloneX NFT Collection?

Announced under the working title “Akira”, RTFKT let it be known that it was working on a collection of 3D metaverse-ready NFT avatars. Notably, RTFKT reserved over half of its mint supply for its earliest NFT collectors.

After months of anticipation, and a couple of mint day hiccups, the CloneX drop finally took place at the end of November 2021. CloneX minted at a price of 2 ETH, sold out in minutes, and hasn’t looked back since.

Given the status of the their established artist Takashi Murakami and the creative team behind RTFKT, the CloneX NFT Collection was a recipe for instant success.

Who Created The CloneX NFT Collection?

Without a doubt, much of both the pre-mint hype and post-mint success of the CloneX NFT collection comes down to its creators. Indeed, the collaborative team of RTFKT and Takashi Murakami brought both a wealth of talent and a legion of fans, all eager to join its community of holders.

Who is Takashi Murakami?

Takashi Murakami with his artwork

Takashi Murakami is an esteemed artist from Japan

Takashi Murakami is an iconic Japanese contemporary artist. Even for those who might not know the artist by name, there’s a decent chance that they have been exposed to the artist’s legendary work; whether through his globally recognizable ‘Flowers’ motif, or via one of his high-profile collabs. To list just a few of the names Murakami has worked with before CloneX, there are Louis Vuitton, Vogue, Pharrell Williams, and Kanye West.

What is RTFKT?

While not nearly as established as Murakami, RTFKT had made an impressive name for itself in the NFT space by the time it launched its CloneX NFTs. The company, founded in 2020, is an industry-leading creative NFT studio. Specifically, RTFKT leverages game engines, world-class design, and AR to create one-of-a-kind digital assets.

RTKFT really established itself in 2021, selling $3.1 million worth of its NFT sneakers in February. Following that CloneX became the most notable producer of NFT wearables in the emerging space. RTFKT became such a hit that Nike went on to acquire it before the end of the year.

RTFKT first teased its genesis generative NFT project back in September 2021. From that moment, the hype among the NFT community for CloneX was through the roof.

 

the most expensive RTFKT CloneX NFT ever

A sale of CloneX # 4594  tops the list of highest CloneX sales to date at 450 ETH. Credit: RTFKT

How Many CloneX NFTs Are There?

There are 20,000 RTFKT CloneX NFTs in total. Further, the NFTs are split into eight DNA types, which form the backbone of the CloneX rarity system. To clarify, each DNA type takes up a different percentage of the total supply. The list of DNA types is: humans (50%), robots (30%), Angels (8.75%), Demons (8.75%), Reptiles (1.25%), Undeads (0.6%), Murakamis (0.5%), and Aliens (0.15%).

The Most expensive CloneX NFTs

As with most NFT collections in its tier, CloneX has seen some jaw-dropping sales of its rarest NFTs. At the top of this list is CloneX #4594, which sold for 450 ETH back in February. That works out to about $1.3 million at the time of writing.

This was the first CloneX NFT sale to cross the $1 million mark, but it was followed by another sale just a week later – CloneX #13134 for 368 ETH. The rest of the top 10 most expensive RTKFT Clone X NFTs all come in well over the ETH equivalent of $500,000.

RTFKT roadmap for CloneX NFTs

RTFKT’s roadmap for CloneX highlights customizable wearables for CloneX NFTs, that could even come to life as physical collectibles. Credit: RTFKT

RTFKT Lore Behind CloneX

Many of the NFT projects with heavy sci-fi and futurist elements have some degree of lore or a narrative story. Well, RTFKT did exactly that with the CloneX NFTs.

To sum up, within the world of the NFT, CLONE X Corp is a company founded by three aliens who travel to earth to accelerate human evolution. Their plan? To transfer human consciousness into clone forms, in order to create the ultimate metaverse.

As part of this story, digital CloneX avatars replace people’s physical bodies. Aside from these new identities being fully customizable, CloneX avatars also allow humans to travel across the universe, expanding humanity into the cosmos.

RTFKT certainly did a great job syncing up the fictional history of the CloneX avatars, with their function in reality. It reflects the efforts the company made to make these NFTs truly tailored for the metaverse.

RTFKT MNLTH banner with nike

RTFKT Studios’ mysterious MNLTH NFT had holders working on riddles for months to see it finally reveal.

Takashi Murakami x CloneX Partner With Nike

Besides the previously mentioned Nike acquisition, there’s been plenty of news that has contributed to the strong performance of Clone X throughout this year.

First, there was the airdrop of Space Pods for all CloneX holders that RTFKT sent out on Christmas Day, 2021. The Space Pods were a part of CloneX’s initial roadmap and serve as metaverse homes for CloneX avatars.

Doubling down on that, RTFKT then went on to do two more airdrops for holders. In February, CloneX holders were treated to PodX Loot Pod extension of their Space Pods, and the mysterious MNLTH NFTs. Notably, the MNLTH was a co-branded NFT that also served as the first-ever NFT for parent company Nike.

While the MNLTH NFTs remained a mystery for quite some time, RTFKT finally unveiled the contents of the MNLTH NFTs last week. In particular, some lucky MNLTH holders had their NFT loot boxes open to reveal a brand new NFT sneaker. Namely, the first RTFKT x NIKE Cryptokicks NFT: The RTFKT X NIKE Dunk Genesis. In addition, the winning holders received a “Skin Vial”, allowing them to change the look of their NFT sneakers.

Takashi Murakami x RTFKT x Crown Collection

Most recently, Murakami and RTFKT teamed up with Crown Collection to create four limited-edition CloneX chains. Notably, the white gold chains are similar to those that exist as traits in the CloneX collection. Naturally, they also feature the Murakami flower motif. In addition to the chain, the partnership also created a physical sculpture of the design. The sculpture will go on display during Murakami’s upcoming art show at Gagosian New York.

Overall, it’s easy to see how RTFKT and Murakami’s CloneX NFT collaboration has reached its certified blue-chip status. Even so, we can only expect to see many more big things coming from this incredible NFT collection.

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